Govt’s handling of Bhandara rapes case insensitive: BJP

Torch-light agitation to be staged in Maharashtra tomorrow

Criticising the Maharashtra government for its insensitivity in handling the shocking rape and murder of three sisters in Bhandara district, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s women’s cell announced on Saturday that it would stage a torch-light agitation throughout the State on Monday.

The girls, aged 11, 8, and 6, were reported missing on February 14 from the village of Murmadi. Their bodies were later found in a well at a farmhouse less than a kilometre from the village.

“The State government has given Rs. 10 lakh to the mother as compensation. So has the Centre. But can money be the price of a life and in a case as heinous as this?” Neeta Kelkar, president of the State BJP women’s cell said.

A BJP women’s cell team visited Bhandara in the aftermath of the gruesome event, she said. Ms. Kelkar castigated Home Minister R.R. Patil, stating that the latter visited the district more than eight days after the incident.

After the abduction was reported by the harried mother and grandmother, the police made them wait till 1.30 a.m. before registering their complaint. If the police had acted immediately, the criminals could have been traced by now, said Ms. Kelkar.